Cool Temps Aid Australia Fire Fight

Published 8:00 pm, Friday, January 4, 2002

Hot wind gusts suddenly blew themselves into a fearsome gale. Thick smoke blocked out the sun and turned day into night. Flames swirled in treetops and ash filled the air.

When a massive forest firestorm roared down upon this tiny beach-side village last Wednesday, a dozen homes were razed and thousands of people fled for their lives.

On Saturday, some recounted how the blaze, one of about 100 to ravage Australia's most populous state since Dec. 24, turned their Christmas vacation into a holiday from hell.

"It was terrifying. Children were screaming. The smoke was shocking," said Dawn Cody, who spent her Southern Hemisphere summer break in Sussex Inlet, 120 miles south of Sydney.

Glen McIndoe, a retiree who lives in the normally sleepy coastal hideaway, saw a "tunnel of flames with a fireball inside" as he headed for the safety of the open beach. Helicopters dumped water and firefighters engaged in a house-to-house battle to save lives and property.

Four days later, emergency workers were busy repairing power supplies and other essential services. The town tried to get back to normal.

On Sunday, clouds gathered over Sydney for the first time in days, bringing high humidity and cooler temperatures. Firefighters used the lull to build firebreaks and to back burn in an attempt to contain about 100 blazes, many of them burning in tinder-dry forests around Sydney.

However, the fire was still burning in bushland to the south, threatening another nearby coast town, Bendalong, and officials warned that the respite would only be temporary.

Temperatures were predicted to near 100 Monday and dry winds were expected to sweep across the state.

As many as 20,000 firefighters, mainly volunteers, have been battling Australia's "black Christmas fires" since Dec. 24.

"They have been working through the night and working through the day to strengthen containment lines around the fires," said Cameron Wade of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service. "It is hard, arduous work."

Some of the fires have been too big to tackle head-on and were burning out of control north, west and south of Sydney.

The biggest was racing through a national park near the tiny town of Colo Heights, about 40 miles northwest of Sydney. Wade said it had jumped a highway and was heading into rugged bushland inaccessible to fire crews.

"It is just monstrous in size," he said. "I don't have the figures. But looking at it on the map it takes up a huge amount of space."

Residents were being ordered to leave their homes as a precaution amid fears that the fire might merge with others burning nearby.

Another large fire was in the Blue Mountains 50 miles west of Sydney, threatening houses and roaring up steep hillsides. Witnesses said flames have climbed high into eucalyptus trees, sometimes more than 100 feet above the ground.

There have been no reports of deaths or serious injuries.

Sydney has been shrouded in smoke haze, with a white ash falling over its suburbs and downtown. Spectacular walls of red flames have lit up the night sky.

Poor visibility from thick smoke during the day has hampered firefighting efforts by making it difficult for helicopters to pour water on hot spots.

Authorities say nearly half of the fires have been set deliberately, many by teen-agers and children. Police have arrested 23 suspects, including a 9-year-old boy.